Iranian-origin Swedish citizen Habib Chab has been hanged in Iran. He was charged with ‘terrorism’ by the Iranian judiciary.
According to French news agency AFP, Iran’s Judiciary website Meezan Online said that “the death sentence of Habib Chap alias Habib Esaid, the head of Harkat al-Nadal terrorist group, was executed on Saturday morning.”
Habib Chab went missing after going on a visit to Turkey in 2020, following which a case was filed against him in Tehran.
He was sentenced to death on December 6 for “corruption on land” and leading a rebel group.
Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, has condemned the move, calling it “inhumane.”
Meezan Online quoted Habib Chab as saying that he led Harakat al-Nadal, or the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, which Iran considers a terrorist group, and attacked it in the southeastern region of Khuzestan. There are also allegations of planning.’
The oil-rich province is home to a large number of Arab minorities and has complained about the lack of amenities.
Habib Chab has been accused by Iranian authorities of carrying out several attacks since 2005 under the auspices of the spy agencies Mossad and Sapo.
Among these two secret agencies, one belongs to Israel and the other to Sweden.
Amnesty International and other organisations working for human rights say that Iran is the second country after China where the highest number of people are executed each year.
According to the Iranian judiciary, three dual nationals have been executed this year on security-related charges, including Habib Chab.
In January, an Iranian official named Ali Reza Akbari, a British citizen, was sentenced to death for espionage.
Similarly, in April, Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of 67-year-old Iranian Jamshed Shermahd, a German citizen accused of involvement in a 2008 mosque bombing.
At least 16 people holding Western passports are currently imprisoned in Iran, most of them with dual citizenship.
Tehran insists that all cases related to punishment are carried out through a proper judicial process.